Lauren Gray Griggs!

Our friends, Bryan and Susan Griggs, just had their sweet little baby girl, Lauren Gray Griggs, unexpectedly early last week! She wasn't getting enough nutrients from the umbilical cord, so they decided to deliver her early. She is doing great! Gray is breathing on her own and she has recently hit the 2 lb. mark. Mom and baby will be in Little Rock for about 8 more weeks. Susan sent Gray's picture with this email:

Bryan and I received our little present very early and unexpectedly on July 10th. Lauren Gray Griggs was born at 4:04 am at a whopping 1 lb., 10 ounces. We are calling her Gray. She will be here in the NICU in Little Rock for at least 8 weeks, so mom will be living with her in Little Rock until she can come back to Fayetteville. Gray has hit all of her milestones so far, and hasn't even needed breathing equipment. It's a day-by-day process, but she's looking good so far. Even though she's early, she's been the best gift Mom and Dad could ask for. Please keep us in your prayers.

4th of July in Hot Springs!

Lori, Lucy, Dawn, me, Stella, and "Baby" Taylor

Mimi and aunt Cameron surprising Stella with a 4th basket!

The Lion King is a lifesaver on a long car trip!

Lake Hamilton

me and Dawn

The OTHER Taylor and Taylor. Wierd, I know!

We went to Hot Springs for the 4th of July. It has become a bit of a tradition... and I think Taylor always gets a little nostalgic for the lake that he grew up on. So we stayed with Lee and Larry (Dawn's parents) at their amazing condo right on the lake. They left the next day and flew to Boston for the 4th, so we just relaxed and cooked and hung out with friends. We got to hang out with Taylor and Jerrick, some of our really good friends who moved to Maumelle a while ago :( So it was great to see them... they are pregnant, and just found out they are having a BOY! We are so excited for them! Their blog is www.the-claxtons.blogspot.com if you want to check it out! We also got some bad news while we were down there... Anya fell down and broke her LEG! We were devastated! Poor Addie and Anya :(( She will be up here for a few weeks while they try to get that little tiny healed. Say some prayers for them! We drove through Little Rock on the way home, which is way out of the way, but I have an extreme addiction to Garden Ridge! I got some great outdoor cushions and candles. I will post pics later! Hope you all had a great 4th!

I Heart John Ray fundraiser!

I have been working very hard lately on my new project... the I Heart John Ray fundraiser! I am sure most of you recognize John as the sweet guy who is always behind the counter at Cheap Thrills. He is a bit of a Fayetteville legend! I have been good friends with John for years, and he has been in pretty poor health. After surviving cancer, John's heart was weakened and now, after multiple stints, he had to have open heart surgery. To make matters worse, John has NO health insurance. They did the surgery last Wednesday, and they just released him to go home on Tuesday. He has had a pretty rough recovery, but he is so positive and upbeat! He is definitely doing better. So some friends and I are getting together and doing a fundraiser to help him pay his extensive medical bills.

I hope that you all will want to come to my fundraiser! It is going to be on Thursday, August 13th at 7 at Dickson St. Theater. We will have food from Boar's Nest BBQ, music from Lloyd Marley and A Good Fight, and an AMAZING silent auction with items from Mae's Emporium, Lola, Taken, Mason's, and more... not to mention some Naturals tickets! If you need tickets let me know and I will bring some to you. They are $25 apiece. Thank you all so much!! Hope to see you there!

Diving Board Jumper!

On Sunday we went to a friend's for a little swim and sun time!  Stella went to the lake with her Grammy and Grandpa earlier in the day, but she was still up for a swim.  She floated all over in her Dora ring and her water wings... by the way, those things are amazing!  Anyway, we had a great day!  Stella even jumped off the diving board for the first time!  Pretty impressive, since I don't even do that!  She is a little daredevil, just like her daddy!  Let's just hope they don't go rock climbing or kayaking anytime soon!  Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Swim Ranch and saying goodbye to some friends....

Last week, our best friends Addie and Anya moved to Texas.  We have been very sad, but it has been for the best!  They are in an amazing place with a gorgeous river and a great little cottage, and they have family, which is great for Anya.   Needless to say, we will be lost without them here!  As you all who read my blog know, we do a lot of stuff together.... so we will just have to make some long road trips to meet up!  I had to wait awhile to post about it because it hurts my heart :(  But we know we will see them soon!! Love to my BFF and PIC!! ;) Miss you!

On Saturday, we started the Swim Ranch for the 2nd year.  We decided to do Saturday Water Babies because Stella got a little burned out going every day for a week straight... this way we can have it be a treat to go swimming instead of a chore.  She did really well at the swimming part... she can blow bubbles, kick, jump off the side, and get in and out easily.  What she didn't do so well at was following directions!! She decided that she was already a good swimmer, so she wanted to do it herself.  She also wanted to be the one chosen each time to be the 'example' with the teacher!  Stella was definitely the center of attention.  And when you give a child her very own website centered around her, why wouldn't she be?? I guess I don't blame her for thinking the world revolves around her!! All I can tell you is, my husband will be taking her to next week's lesson... mama will be relaxing!! 

Silver Dollar City... WAHOO!!!

On the train

Geyser Gulch 

"refueling"

Branson Landing fountains

splashing in the fountain

At the Table Rock Lake fish hatchery

Look at all the trout!

Taylor and I have been doing a lot of fun "grown up" stuff lately, like our beach trip, so we thought it would be fun to do a mini-vacation with Stella.  We took her to Branson.  I was a little nervous that I would be worn out by Silver Dollar City, but we had so much fun!  It was a gorgeous, warm day, and we went all over the park.  We ate SO much!  She was a little too small for most of the kiddie rides, but she loved Geyser Gulch!  We spent a lot of time there.  We bought Season passes, so we will definitely be heading back sometime this summer.  I hope she will have grown an inch or two so she can ride all the rides!  We stayed at Branson Landing at the Hilton Promenade.  We LOVED the hotel.  So nice!  And it was very convenient, since we could walk downstairs and shop and eat dinner.  They even have this huge fountain by the lake where they put on a show with fire and music.  Stella loved it!  We had dinner at Cantina Laredo (yummy margaritas for mommy and daddy!)  The next day we went to the Fish Hatchery at Table Rock lake.  Now, you all know this is not really my thing!  But daddy loves to fish, and we had to balance Stella out from all that shopping ;) She got to see where they grow the baby trout that they stock Taneycomo with.  Then we hit up Bass Pro Shop and a few outlet stores on the way out of town... best find:  a $10 pair of black tall rain boots from Banana Republic!  I also got a gorgeous dress.  Ahh.... sales!  Now we are back in town and heading over to Jesse and Uncle Trevor's for a cookout! I loved our mini-vacation... definitely great bonding time! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!

Gentry Zoo

Last Monday we went out to Gentry to go to the petting zoo!  Stella was in heaven... and her mommy and daddy were loading up on the hand sanitizer!!  We took some cheddar popcorn to feed to all the animals, because they were used to all the snacks they gave out there.  Stella petted bunnies, mini goats, turtles, and a donkey/zebra (?) and we drove through the big area and saw a lot of camels, buffalo, monkeys, lions and tigers, and bears, oh my!  It was a lot of fun, and she still talks about it.  We will definitely go back soon!